Who Will the Montreal Canadiens Target in the First Round?

Jack Peart, LD, Fargo Force, USHL, May 15, 2003. (1 goal, 15 points in 24 games)

Bob McKenzie has Peart ranked at 51, but many other scouting outlets have him as high as the mid-twenties. He would likely be a bit of a reach at 31, but the Canadiens have had a knack for reaching on American High School/USHL defensemen in the early rounds.

The Canadiens may be a bit weak at left defence right now, especially if they lose the minute-munching Ben Chiarot to Seattle, but their LD prospect corps is bursting at the seams with names like Alexander Romanov, Mattias Norlinder, Jordan Harris, Jayden Struble, Gianni Fairbrother and last year’s first-round pick Kaiden Guhle having tangible NHL potential and common qualities: great mobility and skating to go along with physicality and dynamism. Marc Bergevin has demonstrated his taste in defensive prospects and I don’t see that trend ending.

Jack Peart may just be the Habs’ favourite player on the board when they’re up and the position he plays won’t prevent them from taking the leap. Peart is a phenomenal skater, which is facilitated by his 5’11”, 181 lbs frame. The Canadiens picked last year’s Minnesota High School Mr. Hockey in Blake Biondi and might continue that trend with Peart who racked up 11 goals and 35 points in 18 games as a defenceman before heading to the USHL this season.

Peart plays with a degree of calm that teams are sure to appreciate and uses his vision to perform clean breakouts through the neutral zone; paired with his great mobility, this makes him a real weapon in transition, something the Canadiens lack on the back end. His calm has, however, been a limiting factor, as he prevents himself from taking risks with the puck to create offence, which makes him a bit less valuable in the offensive zone.

Along with his transition skills, Peart is as solid of a d-zone defenseman as you’re likely to find. His positioning is almost perfect and an active stick is a constant threat to break up play for his opponents. If Peart learns to take more risks, he could maybe develop into a solid #3 defenseman, which is more than solid at this stage of the draft, but his defensive skills make him a near surefire NHL player. I personally gravitate toward the real home-run swings in the draft, but the Canadiens could be attracted to a safer but really solid and fun player like Peart.